Local News
Stop sale of dangerous drugs online, Rush says
From staff reports Legislation designed to ensure that social media platforms and websites are held accountable for failing to prevent the sale of dangerous, illegal drugs on their platforms has been introduced by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-1st). The Domain Reform for Unlawful Drug Sellers (DRUGS) Act also was introduced by U.S. David B. McKinley…
$1 million Lucky Day Lotto jackpot won in Bridgeview
From staff reports If you bought a Lucky Day Lotto ticket in Bridgeview for Thursday night’s drawing, you may want to check it right away – that’s because you might be a newly-minted millionaire! Circle K gas station, located at 7050 S. Harlem Ave. in Bridgeview, sold a $1 million winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket…
Poisoned bald eagle found in Lyons woods
By Kelly White Bald eagles are becoming increasingly more common in the Chicagoland area, and avid bird enthusiasts said this is no surprise. “I have been watching the same pair of bald eagles and their offspring for 12 years now,” Sue Delfiacco said. To Delfiacco, the pair of birds are like family. Every morning, she…
2 killed in Worth bar shooting
By Bob Bong Worth Mayor Mary Werner confirmed Monday afternoon that two people were shot and killed and a third wounded in a shooting early this morning at the Crossing Bar and Grill, 6959 W. 111th St. in Worth. Werner said the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force was assisting Worth police with the investigation.…
Argo Wrestling busy over winter break
By Carol McGowan While many students enjoyed time off during the school’s winter break, Argo wrestlers were hard at work competing in an all level tri meet. They beat both DeLaSalle High School and Riverside-Brookfield teams and it came down to the last match to decide the winner. The Argonauts battled to the end and…
Argo Alumni Night returns
By Carol McGowan The tradition of Alumni Night at Argo Community High School returns on Friday, January 14. The Alumni Dinner, at which the school provides a free buffet dinner to alumni, will take place from 5-8 p.m. in the Bulow Auditorium. Many of all ages have gathered in the past for great food and…
Palos 118 hosting Community Feedback Forums Monday, Tuesday
Palos School District 118 will host a series of community forums for the public on Monday and Tuesday, January 10 and 11, as part of its first phase of strategic planning. The Palos 118 school board is engaging the entire school community in discussions that will lead to identifying the attributes and skills all Palos…
Bobby Rush to retire after 15 terms
From staff reports U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, the state’s longest serving member of Congress, announced Tuesday he would not seek re-election this year, stepping down after almost 30 years of representing Chicago’s South Side and southwest suburbs. Rush, 75, formally announced that he will not run for a 16th term in Congress, but vowed to…
Stagg health team earns fourth straight Blue Ribbon award
By Jeff Vorva District 230 Supt. Robert Nolting likened the Stagg Health Education department to the New England Patriots. For the fourth straight year, Stagg won the Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence in Education from the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Staff members said Stagg was the first school in Illinois…
Palos Heights: Business owners must choose whether to comply with mandates
By Jeff Vorva Palos Heights is not cracking down on businesses that violate Cook County COVID-19 mandates regarding proof of vaccinations. But the city will help if asked. Among the mandates, which started Monday, businesses including restaurants and gyms must have patrons show proof of vaccinations, which is a controversial topic for some. The Village…
Mayor reads hate mail before diving into COVID and crime issues
By Jeff Vorva Before Tuesday’s village board meeting, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau said he received a disturbing email. The mayor, who shoots from the hip when it comes to his beliefs is a controversial public figure and figures to get hate mail. This one was especially nasty. “I figured that since I got this…
Stepson charged in Evergreen Park murder
By Bob Bong A 24-year-old Chicago man has been charged with first-degree murder in the New Year’s Eve shooting of his stepfather in Evergreen Park. Brandon K. Kizer, 24, of the 8100 block of South Loomis in Chicago, was charged Sunday with first-degree murder in the death of Anthony Young, 52, on the morning of…
Honored for service to business
Fabis earns UBAM award By Dermot Connolly The United Business Association of Midway recently honored founding member Mary Fabis with a Lifetime Membership Award for Outstanding Service for her 35 years of work with the business organization she continues to serve as a board member. Fabis, now 92, has owned and operated Archer Travel agency…
She was a ‘Munchkin by marriage’
Mary Ellen St. Aubin dies at age 101 By Joan Hadac Mary Ellen St. Aubin once said that if her life could be summed up in a movie title, it might be It’s a Wonderful Life. That life came to a conclusion late last month. Mrs. St. Aubin was 101 years old. “I’ve enjoyed my…
Fire and ice
December was unseasonably dry and warm, but it was cold enough late in the month to form icicles on a Bedford Park Fire Department truck– even after it returned from a blaze that gutted a warehouse in the 6500 block of South Lavergne, just steps south of Clearing. The weather forecast for this weekend calls…
‘They made us look like fools’
Parents furious over one-two stumble by CPS By Tim Hadac As Chicago Public Schools were set to re-open earlier this week, parents of CPS students were still fuming over what most seemed to see as a two-part stumble by district administrators. “We did exactly what they asked of us, and they made us look like…
Toasting 2022 with champagne and herring
By Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • joan.hadac@gmail.com Hello everyone. So, the holidays are over. How did you celebrate? I love Christmas because I get to see family, some of whom I haven’t laid eyes on since Christmas 2019. New Year’s is a much quieter celebration. I have to admit,…
Richards principal walks 24 hours for a cause
Raises $20,000 for student scholarships By Kelly White Most people spend New Year’s Day relaxing. Richards High School Principal Dr. Mike Jacobson spent it on the treadmill. For the second year in a row, Jacobson inspired generous donations of more than $20,000 on New Year’s Day by walking 24 hours on a treadmill without stopping.…
Students help design new District 230 logo
By Jeff Vorva District 230 has a new logo. Students Tina Alkayed (Sandburg), Nycholas Golla (Stagg) and Trinity Walker (Andrew) teamed with Director of Communications Carla Erdey and Five Star Design branding specialist Laura Gilarski to work on the logo, which was unveiled at the Dec. 16 board meeting at Sandburg. “It’s a concept of…
New laws taking effect
Statewide jump in minimum wage ‘just a start’ By Bob Bong and Peter Hancock Capitol News Illinois Minimum-wage workers across Illinois will see a boost in their hourly pay to $12 per hour starting Jan. 1, while tenants in affordable housing units will be allowed to keep pets. Those are just some of the…
Illinois News
Communities, commission push Pritzker admin for more prison plan details
By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Jimmy Soto spent more than 42 years wrongfully imprisoned in Illinois Department of Corrections facilities. In 2020, he was moved to the “F-House” at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, a condemned unit, not because he was being punished, but because it was where the facility was housing individuals…
Elections board urged to dismiss complaint that Bailey illegally coordinated in 2022 campaign
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A hearing officer is recommending the Illinois State Board of Elections dismiss a complaint that alleged conservative radio host and political operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated with former Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey during his 2022 campaign for governor. Proft, a one-time gubernatorial candidate himself, is behind an…
State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois State Police say an automated license plate reader program has helped the agency identify witnesses or suspects in 82 percent of highway shooting cases this year, including all eight that resulted in a death. But as the state looks to further expand its network of more than…
Just weeks before Republican National Convention, Illinois GOP chair announces resignation
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Halfway through the 2024 election cycle and just a few weeks away from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy on Wednesday announced his resignation as head of the state Republican Party. Tracy, who’d held the job since February 2021, explained his resignation in…
As Illinois session ends, lawmakers’ attempt to reinstate wetland protections fails
by JENNIFER BAMBERG Investigate Midwest jennifer.bamberg@investigatemidwest.org In 2006, 19-year-old Jessica Whinston inherited 20 acres of land that her grandparents once farmed in Quincy, Illinois. The land had sat dormant since the 1980s and was overgrown, but Whinston and her husband Bradley worked to turn it into a productive farm. The couple were eventually able to…
Elections board dismisses illegal campaign coordination complaint, declines to clarify law
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – State elections officials on Tuesday indicated they were unlikely to step in to clarify what constitutes illegal campaign coordination after voting to dismiss a complaint alleging such coordination in the 2022 campaign for governor. At their monthly meeting in Chicago, Illinois State Board of Elections members…
Illinois’ ban on ‘bump stocks’ remains in place despite U.S. Supreme Court decision
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois law banning the sale and use of “bump stocks” and other devices that increase the firing power of semiautomatic weapons remains in place, at least for now, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision Friday striking down a federal ban on such items. “Illinois law…
Lawmakers pass on oversight vote for Pritzker’s prison closure, rebuild plan
By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – For the last two decades, each time a governor has moved to close a large state-run facility like a prison or mental health center, a legislative oversight panel has voted on the plan. That changed on Friday – at least for now –…
‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com LINCOLN – On the eve of a scheduled vote to advise Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on plans to close and rebuild a pair of dilapidated state prisons, hundreds filed into a junior high school gymnasium Thursday evening clad in matching green T-shirts. Printed on the shirts was a…
Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com In the final hours of their spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers approved a tax credit of up to about $300 for families with young children. The credit is available to Illinoisans with children under age 12 who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Although…